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The Killers – "Caution"

The Killers – "Caution"

The Killers announced their Wonderful Wonderful follow-up Imploding The Mirage way back in November, but we haven’t heard any music from it until now. Today the band visited Zane Lowe’s Beats 1 broadcast to debut “Caution,” the album’s lead single, which features guitar from none other than Lindsey Buckingham. They’ve also revealed the release date (5/29) and the cover art — although fan site The Killers News already dug that up yesterday, noting that it’s a 1996 painting called “Dance Of The Wind And Storm” by Thomas Blackshear. Another Blackshear painting called “Golden Breeze” serves as the single art for “Caution.”

After launching Wonderful Wonderful with the funky, tongue-in-cheek “The Man,” the Killers are returning to their earnest, bombastic classic-rock impulses on “Caution.” It’s unmistakably a Killers song, but I’m also reminded Dire Straits and maybe even Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. As Brandon Flowers tells Lowe, “We experimented a little bit on the last album. We’re proud ‘The Man’ and all that it did, but the heart wasn’t quite there. I was being a little ironic with ‘The Man’ and I think we’re at our best when we’re bearing our hearts, and we’re kind doing that on ‘Caution’.”

Given the push back toward classic rock, it’s no surprise that for production the Killers turned to Grammy winner Shawn Everett (The War On Drugs, Alabama Shakes, Kacey Musgraves) and Foxygen’s Jonathan Rado (Father John Misty, Alex Cameron, Whitney). It’s even less surprising that they recruited the services an actual classic rock icon in Buckingham, whose lengthy guitar solo closes out “Caution.” Other guests on the new LP include k.d. lang, Weyes Blood’s Natalie Mering, Lucius, Blake Mills, and keyboard work from the War On Drugs’ Adam Granduciel. Alleged influences for Imploding The Mirage include Kate Bush and Peter Gabriel alongside old mainstays like Bruce Springsteen and New Order.

Flowers, who recently moved his family to the mountains Utah, says “Caution” relates to extremely Sheryl Crow voice] leaving Las Vegas:

It’s sort about having the wherewithal to listen to that angel on your shoulder, even if they’re telling you something that you don’t want to hear. And I think for me with this song was a lot about leaving Las Vegas. I was having this sort hunch or impression that that was something that I was supposed to do for my family. And it was hard for me because I’m an ambassador for — and so it was tough for me to leave, and I thought I was able to harness that energy and there was a sort a relief when it happened, and you kind feel that the spirit in “Caution.”

Hear “Caution” below.

Imploding The Mirage is out 5/29 on Island. Pre-order it here.